Alexandra
Szekely

Partner

Vcard
Litigation: Elite - France
Chambers « Alexandra Szekely of Le 16 Law joins the table on the back of an increasingly active practice. She frequently handles shareholders dispute and follow-on claims. »
Litigation: Elite client - Global
Chambers « Alexandra Szekely is great, she is a formidable lawyer. »
Litigation: Elite client - Global
Chambers « Alexandra delivered well-executed work and respected deadlines. »
Legal 500 EMEA
Alexandra “is an accomplished litigation lawyer with outstanding advocacy skills” and with “an in-depth knowledge of French and EU bankruptcy laws”
Legal 500 2024
« Competent and responsive team led by Alexandra Szekely, clarity and precision, responsiveness. A firm that deserves to be more visible »
Legal 500 2022.
« Alexandra Szekely thinks outside of the box, she always gives smart strategic advice, she has excellent advocacy skills »

Main Areas of Expertise

  • Banking, Commercial & Corporate Litigation
  • Bankruptcy & Bankruptcy-related litigation
  • Compliance & International Sanctions

Education

  • Member of the New York Bar (1999) and Paris Bar (2002)
  • LL.M, Columbia University, New York
  • Master 2 in English and North-American Business Law, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I)
  • Master 2 in General Private Law, Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II)
  • Mediation (trained at the Institut d’Expertise d’Arbitrage et de Médiation)

Alexandra is a seasoned litigation lawyer with more than 20 years of experience handling high-stakes, cross-border disputes.

She handles complex banking, commercial and corporate litigation, and has a strong track record in bankruptcy matters — representing debtors, creditors, shareholders and directors alike.

Alexandra also advises her clients on compliance issues, including guiding French and foreign clients through the evolving EU sanctions regimes on Russia.

Recent Experience

Banking, Commercial & Corporate Litigation

  • Advising a French listed company in relation to the threatened call of first-demand guarantees further to the termination of a contract as a result of the EU sanctions imposed on the Russian counterparty.
  • Advising a foreign company in connection with the call of first-demand counter-guarantees in relation to the alleged non-performance of a construction agreement.
  • Representing several companies in relation the termination by their counterparts of contracts for the sale and purchase of electricity on the grounds of hardship and/or force majeure.
  • Advising the purchaser of a company in relation to the breach of representations and warranties and willful misrepresentations by the seller of the shares of a company and to the interpretation of an earn-out clause.
  • Representing the shareholders of an unlimited liability company in several disputes against the purchaser of a claim of circa EUR 6 million relating to remediation costs allegedly due by the company, the previous shareholders of the company on the grounds of willful misrepresentation and failure to comply with their duty to inform the purchasers of the shares, and against the financial advisers which had recommended the investment in the unlimited liability.
  • Representing the directors and shareholders of a company placed in liquidation proceedings alongside the liquidator of the company in liquidation against an investment fund which had entered a letter of intent and eventually failed to participate in a share capital increase days before the closing of the share capital increase.

 

Enforcement

  • Representing corporate clients and State-owned entities in the recognition and enforcement of domestic and foreign judgments and arbitral awards before French courts and currently representing:
    • a foreign company in relation to the enforcement of an arbitral award in France.
    • a foreign company in the energy sector in relation to the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award against a foreign State.

 

Bankruptcy & Bankruptcy-related litigation

  • Advising and representing an investment fund in Capelli SA and Capelli Lux’s bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Advising and representing an Italian bank to recover a circa EUR 7 million claim against a debtor placed in conciliation and reorganization proceedings and related actions to enforce a mortgage and a personal guarantee granted by the managing director and shareholder of the debtor company.
  • Advising and representing the shareholders and managers of a group of companies specialized in the food industry in connection with the restructuring of their debts in conciliation and in reorganization proceedings.
  • Representing directors and shareholders of a company placed in liquidation proceedings against claims by the French liquidators that the shareholders and directors would have would have mismanaged the company and should be held liable on their personal assets for the debts of the debtor company.
  • Advised and represented a group of senior secured noteholders in the restructuring of the Casino group in conciliation and accelerated safeguard proceedings.

 

Compliance & International Sanctions

Helping clients navigate complex EU sanctions regimes targeting Iran, Syria, and Russia including:

  • Representing a leading French energy company in a contractual dispute arising from additional EU sanctions on Russia.
  • Advising a leading French energy company in connection with the impact of additional sanctions on Russia on an ongoing project.
  • Assisting clients with applications to the competent authorities, including the Direction Générale du Trésor.
  • Advising on and managing the termination of ongoing contracts with sanctioned entities or entities controlled by sanctioned persons.
  • Conducting anti-bribery and international sanctions due diligence in M&A transactions.

Relevant activities

  • Member of Insol Europe
  • Member of the Women in Restructuring Association (WiR)
  • Seminar on Bankruptcy Law, Law Faculty of Sciences-Po Paris
  • Independent Board Member of NBC Paris, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Canada

Recent publications

Recent conferences

  • Avellum Disputes Day: Bridging Borders in Cross-Jurisdictional Enforcement, October 2025
  • “Preventive Restructurings: New Challenges in Voting Plans,” Insol Europe’s Annual Congress, 2024
  • “EU Insolvency Legislation Update,” GRR Live: Women in Restructuring Summit, London, 2024
  • “Litigation in an Insolvency Context,” IBA Global Insolvency and Restructuring Annual Conference, 2024
  • “Energy Crisis: Toolkit for Companies in Distress,” Client Seminar, 2023
  • International sanctions, energy crisis, and inflation: impact on contract performance and consequences, November 2022
  • Arbitration and insolvency proceedings, May 2022
  • The financing of companies in difficulty by third-party funders, April 2022
  • UK/EU Brexit jurisdiction issues, March 2021
  • Arbitration and insolvency (Paris Arbitration Week), September 2021
  • Extraterritoriality of US laws: Myths and Reality, December 2019
  • Regards croisés sur la notion de déséquilibre significatif et le contrôle judiciaire du prix – Le 16 Law et Deloitte, February 2019